


The Death of Donna Noble

by billyteddytrash



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Pain, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 22:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billyteddytrash/pseuds/billyteddytrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After living her life away from the TARDIS, Donna gets a visit from the Doctor on her deathbed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Death of Donna Noble

The thick and sickly-sweet smell of gauze and bleach filled the hospital ward. Light came through the window, filtered and diluted by the clouds and mist pervading the air outside. A woman, well beyond her prime, lay sleeping on a scratchy bed. Her hair was spread like a fan around her head, the once-red strands falling around her shoulders as she shifted. Even as she slept, the pillow felt stiff beneath her pale neck. The rest was uneasy, as were most these days. It was hard to sleep with the near-constant beeping emanating from the machine just to her left. But, clever as she was, she knew that her restlessness stretched much further than a bit of noise pollution. 

In all her days, she’d felt like something was missing. Like an entire lifetime was hidden, just behind the reach of her mind. Never had it bothered her as much as it did now, as she knew her life would be ending soon. She’d made peace with it at this point. Ninety-three years wasn’t anything to shake a stick at, after all. 

Oh, she’d lived a full life; she’d married, had three children, plenty of friends, and even a few grandchildren. These familiar figures graced her dreams, dancing through her memories. A smile painted itself on her face as she continued to reminisce. Many days flowed through her vision, her eyes closed while she basked in the peacefulness of the Thursday afternoon. The rain, pitter-pattering against the glass of the window, lulled her into a sleep so deep she awoke only to the probe of someone else’s thoughts penetrating her mind. 

Her eyes tore themselves open, the somehow-familiar feeling triggering some sort of ghost of a memory in her heart. She feared, absurdly, that some unknown figure was attempting to steal away her days. Ridiculous, she thought. No one can steal the hours of your life. Somehow, this logic didn't seem to be of any consequence or comfort to her.

In her moment of terror, the woman had nearly forgotten what had her so startled to begin with. She frantically glanced around her room, seeking out the disturber of her unconscious state. Catching sight of the clock, she quickly deduced that it was too late for any of the nurses to have been in there disrupting her comfort.

Then, she saw him. There was a man, leaning against a strange blue box.

He looked unfamiliar, but the stranger had a familiar aura about him; that kind of sophistication and confidence was too rare, she knew it from somewhere. She couldn’t put a name to his face, though. He stood at roughly six feet, with childishly round eyes and floppy hair swept off to one side. It was dark, too dark to notice much detail apart from the cylindrical hat upon his head and the matching red bowtie ‘round his neck. The way he looked at her was pained, almost as if he were being tortured. The large, old blue Police box stood behind him. It seemed oddly out of place here, as did she. She didn’t think much on it, and instead felt a rush of anger at the breach in her privacy. 

“Oi; what is it that you want,” she spat out. “What do you think you’re doin’ in here, mate?” 

“Donna.”

She was startled by the kindness in his voice, the tone which he spoke to her in. For a moment, she thought he might begin crying. The stranger began walking towards her bedside, pulling the chair from the edge of the room with him. He sat down, gazing at her with something akin to admiration or love in his eyes. Words failed her, so they sat in silence until he chose to speak again. 

“It’s been a while, old friend. Many, many years.” A smirk crept its way onto his face, a hint of bitterness behind it. “You could say it’s even been decades.”

Donna turned her head, getting a better look at the man. After many strenuous moments of trying to place a name to this face, she gave up. She wasn’t sure if it was her age getting the better of her, or if she’d simply forgotten him, but she was simply unable to remember this man.

“Who are you?” 

Her voice cracked lightly, and tears welled up in her eyes. What am I on about? She thought, confused by the reaction that question seemed to trigger in her. The overwhelming and sudden feeling of sadness and recognition flowed through her, pumping in her veins and making her heart race. 

The man bent his head down. Tears fell into his lap as he avoided eye contact. His voice was rough, wavering slightly as he whispered 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Donna.”

The rain continued to trickle down, bouncing off the window pane as words hung in the air. God knows what came over Donna, whether it was a bought of madness or just her memory coming through, she startled herself when she spoke the word “Doctor”. Her wrinkled, aged hands came to rest on her throat as she silently questioned what had torn the name from her lips. 

She blinked, startled by her own voice. Donna spoke again, more confusion than hostility behind the question gently hiding just beyond her lips. 

“Who are you..?” 

The man stood, tears still trickling over as he placed his hands on her temples. Donna opened her eyes, and met his, and a breath ripped itself from her lungs. And she remembered.

Donna Noble remembered the days of the Doctor-Donna; she’d seen a million sunsets and a thousand different worlds. She saw herself saving and changing lives, meeting people and seeing days that are dead and gone. She remembered her best friend, the daft and genius Doctor, and his TARDIS and the times they shared. She’s astounded she’d forgotten any of these days.

The lost days of her life took their place in her memories. She’d met Agatha Christie; she’d saved entire species. She stood before the most monstrous, cruel beings in the galaxy and told them off. She had been the one to tell him when he’d crossed the line between just and cruel. She mouthed off to the ever-mighty Shadow Proclamation, befriended and freed the Ood consciousness, and tamed the beast in the Doctor’s hearts. There were worlds out there, singing in her memory, and she never knew. But his mind, his memories and knowledge were given to her through the two-way metacrisis in the Medusa Cascade. A time lord’s vast wisdom and knowledge of time and the universe would never hold up in the mind of a human. Stealing her memories away was the only possible path that would lead her into a long and fruitful life. It was the only way to keep her alive.

And, at last, Donna Noble felt whole. The golden haze faded from her mind, and all that remained was the rain and the man she knew to be the Doctor. He smiled down at her, eyes filled with tears, hands still on her temples. His face had changed, but it was really him. She shook with the sheer strength of her sobbing, and the Doctor pulled her into a warm hug. The stayed like that for unfathomably long moments, rocking slightly, holding on to each other for one last little lifetime. 

Donna knew, of course, what this meant. The Doctor knew she was to die soon; he always knew everything, the git. He’s come to her, one last time, to give her the greatest gift he possibly could. The Doctor gave Donna the memory of being magnificent. He’s given her peace, and love enough for a thousand Christmases. Now, at last, she saw herself. She saw Donna Temple-Noble; Mother, daughter, granddaughter, grandmother, wife, friend, and savior of worlds. Donna, the hero. Donna, friend of the Ood, companion of the Doctor. The Doctor-Donna. The most important woman in the universe. She finally understood. 

Her time was running out. The consciousness of the Time Lords filled her once more, and her entire being ached. Heart overflowing, she saw that it was her time at last. 

“Oi, Alien Boy?” Donna asked, the sound of her words having lost their bite, coming out shuddery, slurred and soft. 

“Yes, Donna?” The Doctor replied, the sadness in his voice veiled pitifully. His arms were secured around her, holding her thin and aged form to his chest. She felt the beating of his hearts against her shoulder; the sound of it was comforting, much more so than the continued beeping which mimicked her pulse still. The sound of the machine was weakening by the second, and she knew the inevitable was coming. 

Her breathing laboured, pulse rapidly weakening, Donna Noble spoke the words she never got to as a younger woman. She’d never, ever been able to remember, let alone show the gratitude she felt for the centuries-old man before her. He’d changed her life, saved her from the mundane world she was soon to leave. Eyes fluttering closes, memories swirling before her, she said the one thing she needed to say more than anything else in that moment. 

“Thank you.”

The monitor sang out, marking the final beat of her heart. Letting out a mighty sob, the Doctor held onto his friend for a few moments more, rocking her gently as he did. When he finally did let her limp form go, he softly placed her where she’d been before he’d come to her. Brushing her greyed hair from her forehead, and planting a kiss on her still warm cheek, he said his goodbyes. 

The Doctor cleared his throat and turned back towards his TARDIS. He stopped at the door, turning around and gently placing her old key into her hand. 

“Find me, wherever you are. Goodbye, Donna Noble.”

He smiled at her, wondering how someone with such fire could go out so quietly. The memories of his friend were still clear in his mind as he walked back into his TARDIS and sped off into infinity, hoping she had lived a life befitting someone of her capacity to love. The Doctor knows that somewhere in this great big impossibility of existence, Donna Noble will live on. Be it in her kin, friends, or the legends across the galaxy. Everyone knows that everybody dies. No one knows it like the Doctor. If nothing ever ended, nothing would ever get started. But if something can be remembered, if even one person holds onto the love and memory of those things passed on, then nothing is ever really gone. 

Not really.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. 
> 
> But I think that Donna deserved an ending. So, here it is. It hurt to write and it hurts to read, but I think that the Doctor would have visited her one last time before she passed on. Hopefully you didn't cry too much...
> 
> Follow me on my social sites for updates on fics, fandom stuff & the ability to send prompts. 
> 
> Twitter: @SRWhovian  
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> Wattpad: Somerandomwhovian


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